Sports Update

Football:  After an embarrassing loss (that involved an injury to the starter) to the Pats, it seemed hopeless versus the Bengals with a back-up.  And, not the vet one they picked up for insurance.  The Jets won by three. And, that included some slip-ups like a turnover, great stop at the goal line, and then ANOTHER turnover deep in Jets territory.  Even their back-up back-up helped to complete a series (with an injury scare) though it ended with three instead of seven given a missed catch. 

The Bengals eventually went ahead and fans had reason to fear a "this close" ending, down to the Jets looking like it would quickly give the ball back around the two minute warning (two plays took nine seconds!).  A perhaps questionable roughing penalty and (after one more slip-up where a runner looked like he could have got the first down but stopped to stay in bounds) one final push did the job.  Now there is a QB controversy!

The Giants had a shot at an upset against the clearly off Kansas City, who managed a win versus Washington after making them look like a real team in the first half.  This one was more nail-biter all the way, but KC hung on with a late go ahead field goal with the Giants last shot a pretty ugly looking four and out.  

Finally in football news, celebrity spokesman and from I can tell pretty well liked QB, Aaron Rodgers (Brett F., his predecessor had a bit of a reputation as an ass) not only has the Big V., but now it is being reported (though the talk is that it was an open secret) he wasn't vaccinated.  He said in one news conference he was "immunized," which turns out to be some sort of code word.  Sigh.

ETA:  Rodgers is laying on the asshole some more. Colbert flagged as well that he tried to get the league to rule that he was actually "vaccinated" or whatever because of some special procedure he had performed. We saw how useful it was.  Well, that's one more ruined reputation.  

As Carlos Alazraqui (the voice actor/comedian) argued, why can't these guys just be upfront about their fears and beliefs without the b.s. about critics being "woke" or that their path is the "macho" path etc.?  So much bullshit out there. 

The Jets also, unfortunately -- this didn't bode well -- had a short week. Off his fantastic start, Mike White got injured early, leading the third stringer to have to go in.  He helped the team score 30 points, a turnover at the goal line near the end of the game away from 37.  But, the defense was horrible, giving up 45 to the Colts.

Why they gave up a pick or whatever for an emergency back-up when the guy has yet to play for two games in unclear. 

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Baseball: Well, the big news here is that the Atlanta Braves continued their playoff dominance by beating the Astros in six.  Can you now change your name or at least stop that stupid chop?  So, every team in the NL East except one (no kewpie doll if you can guess) won the World Series in this century, though even that team got there (twice if 2000 counts).

The Braves did take advantage of the situation to get to the playoffs, but their second half was as a whole rather good.  As I have noted, their great record as a whole should not totally paper over that they still had moments of mediocrity (that helped keep the race technically alive longer than it should have been).  This suggests how dominate they was as a whole once they started to thrive, helped by good pick-ups.

It is impressive they managed all of this with three and then two (with an injury early in the World Series) starters.  Their expected fourth starter, not great anyway, was hurt during the playoffs.  But, a fill-in, basically a minor leaguer, had a great World Series start (came in with the bases loaded, got out with one run, pitched 4.2 innings as a whole in a playoffs filled with very short outings across the board).  

Bullpen games was a theme in this playoff run.  Yes, 4.2 is basically a long time these days.  The Braves bullpen did not look lights out regularly in the second half.  Repeatedly, the Braves needed late game offense to compensate.  They had some of that in the playoffs, but the bullpen was much more dominate.  A first inning grand slam looked like the road to winning the WS in five, but the Astros' offense showed up for a second time, and the Braves stopped scoring after going ahead (again) early 5-4.

I didn't watch the playoffs much, not having much interest in many of these teams, finding the FOX announcers annoying, and not wanting various teams to win (thus worrying one team might lose).  There were some good series; mixed bag probably.  Games too long.  The bullpen game concept worsens the situation.  Anyway, can Atlanta end the racist stuff?

There is some financial/labor related stuff to be agreed upon now, so some think there is a chance the 2022 season won't start on time. Then, there is the asinine "end of the DH" business. And, the Mets have a lot of issues still to worry about.  People "thanking" them for helping the Braves along. Eh.  If the Braves took less time to stop playing mediocre ball, even slightly over .500, the Mets problems may have been flagged even earlier.